Am I gutloading wrong?

[nathan_family]

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased my first chameleon a few days ago. I’ve done a lot of research before hand to ensure my pet has the best quality of life. He has been eating the insects I put in his enclosure and I’ve purchased calcium powder and multivitamins to sprinkle on as well when needed. However I was reading up on gutloading and I wanted to give that a shot as well. I purchased Mazuri better bug gut loading diet food, and I attempted to feed it to my insects I bought so they would be loaded for his next meal. Unfortunately a few hours after putting some food in my insects containers they all immediately died. I’m just curious where I went wrong?

 

[ElliotG]

Hi and welcome to chameleon forums!

You’ve made a mistake plenty of first time reptile owners make (I’ve done it myself) which is buy a premade gut loading diet. Most premade diets for insects are filled with fillers, and don’t offer much nutritional value to the bug and the chameleon eating it. Theres a few rare exceptions i believe. For the most part, most of us prefer to feed our insects certain fruits/greens/veggies. This tends to be a better method as veggies have more nutritional value, and are cheaper (imo at least).

Here’s a more in depth guide on the process.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/feeder-nutrition-gutloading.75/

Also, where did you get your feeders from? That might also be the issue, big box pet store feeders tend to die more often than insects from a reliable source.

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

Here is a sheet for gutloading for you

 

[nathan_family]

Hi and welcome to chameleon forums!

You’ve made a mistake plenty of first time reptile owners make (I’ve done it myself) which is buy a premade gut loading diet. Most premade diets for insects are filled with fillers, and don’t offer much nutritional value to the bug and the chameleon eating it. Theres a few rare exceptions i believe. For the most part, most of us prefer to feed our insects certain fruits/greens/veggies. This tends to be a better method as veggies have more nutritional value, and are cheaper (imo at least).

Here’s a more in depth guide on the process.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/feeder-nutrition-gutloading.75/

Also, where did you get your feeders from? That might also be the issue, big box pet store feeders tend to die more often than insects from a reliable source.

Ahhh okay. I did see that gut loading with fruits and vegetables was a better option but the premade one just seemed easier so I figured I would give it a shot, but I guess not. And you are correct I did get my feeder insects from petco, however they were all perfectly healthy over the last 2-3 days and then the moment I gave them the gut supplements, they immediately died within a couple hours. I will stick to fruits/veg from now on.

Thanks you the help!

 

[elizaann2]

Ahhh okay. I did see that gut loading with fruits and vegetables was a better option but the premade one just seemed easier so I figured I would give it a shot, but I guess not. And you are correct I did get my feeder insects from petco, however they were all perfectly healthy over the last 2-3 days and then the moment I gave them the gut supplements, they immediately died within a couple hours. I will stick to fruits/veg from now on.

Thanks you the help!

I get my feeders from Dubia.com, FramsChams, Josh's Frogs and Costal Silkworms if you want to check any of those places out for feeders moving forward. Big chain pet stores are known to 'recycle' uneaten feeders so they are a bit risky regarding parasites.

 

[Beman]

So just to note... They are looking pretty wet as well. You want larger containers they need room especially crickets. Crickets will kill each other off in small spaces. And you do not want wet stuff that they are sitting and walking through.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Mazuri is one of the better commercial products to use. I use Repashy Bug Burger, but only a little bit to round out the fresh greens & veggies I give. You do want to give your insects some space and plenty of ventilation. Crickets will die from their own poo fumes. I use plastic storage bins which I cut out areas on the top and some on the sides and then glue on screening for my crickets. The roaches get the same but without the vents on the sides as I don’t want them climbing. I don’t give any additional water…just what they get from their food. Yours look very wet and the very high humidity I’m sure was a big factor in their demise.

 

[Beman]

Hi. Mazuri is one of the better commercial products to use. I use Repashy Bug Burger, but only a little bit to round out the fresh greens & veggies I give. You do want to give your insects some space and plenty of ventilation. Crickets will die from their own poo fumes. I use plastic storage bins which I cut out areas on the top and some on the sides and then glue on screening for my crickets. The roaches get the same but without the vents on the sides as I don’t want them climbing. I don’t give any additional water…just what they get from their food. Yours look very wet and the very high humidity I’m sure was a big factor in their demise.

It is a good one for crickets. But you would not use this one for any roach species. These are prone to develop high uric acid levels when fed a high protein diet. Mazuri is a high protein diet at 30% min protein level. This article Repashy did explains it better than I am. https://www.store.repashy.com/can-feeder-insect-diets-contribute-to-gout-in-reptiles.html

This is why bug burger is a great option for roaches if your doing a commercial it has a much lower protein level.